CD30 Propane System Installation

[OceanSailor]

Looking to add propane to my boat. Anyone do this already and have any suggestions or insight into how it was originally installed?

[Paul D.]

I haven't added the system to Femme but I did replace the components and got intimate with how these work. I feel it is important to think about it as a system and consider carefully how it can best fit into your boat. It is not a system on which to cut corners. Don Casey has sound ideas

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/pr ... ystems.asp

and folks on this board with CD30's can give you layout ideas. Check the CD30 Manual on the "About Cape Dorys" tab/ specifications/CD30.

http://www.capedory.org/cdsoalook-group ... inemanuals

Our manual has a design layout of each system, electrical, fresh water, rigging, propane etc. I think a couple of key pieces would be to make sure the tank storage locker drains outside the boat, the solenoid switch is in that space and all hoses are sheathed especially where they go through bulkheads. Femme's system has hoses inside larger hoses. This is not a system in which to use non marine specified gear. It's like rock climbing, very safe when using the right gear and right practices - potentially catastrophic when not.

Even though it is still a fossil fuel, done right a propane system should give inexpensive and reliable service for many years. If you like cooking onboard, you'll like propane.

Good luck!

[Joe CD MS 300]

Ocean Sailor, did you consider a CNG system? Safer and I would not think it would be any more expensive to install. Depending where you are at it may not be a problem getting CNG tanks refilled. My MS 300 had a CNG system installed prior to my purchase. Getting CNG has not been a problem along the coast of Maine. Might be different if you are planning on long distance cruising.

[Larry DeMers]

I did a propane installation last year on our CD30. We switched from the pressurized alcohol system. I chose to use a vertical 6 gal. tank, mounted to the stern rail. I have a couple 1 gal. green screw on bottles sitting i storage, just in case we run low on propane in the main tank. Hasn't happened yet. The 6 gal tank lasts all summer for us..April thru October. We live onboard during this time also. The only device using the propane is a three burner stove/oven.
I would never return to alcohol. Propane runs about $6 year for me, while alcohol was $18-20/gal. times 4-6 gals for the summer. The heat is almost instantaneous too.
Expensive change to make now, after 30 years of ownership, but well worth it.

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30, Sailing Lake Superior

[MarcMcCarron]

my 30 has two 6 pound tanks on the stern rail. I had a SS bracket made by a local fab shop for $300

[John Stone]

Looking to add propane to my boat. Anyone do this already and have any suggestions or insight into how it was originally installed?

Not a CD 30, but I installed a propane system on the Far Reach, a CD 36, and it looks like it belongs there. Holds three 10 lb bottles and meets all ABYC standards.

http://www.farreachvoyages.com/projects ... ocker.html